(2) Mon Nov 03 2008 12:0521st century digital (girl):
I am really glad I was born when I was. Although I think I would have made I fine pioneer woman I don't think I could have lasted in a day where you only bathed once a month...or even week. Aaron says I have overactive olfactories. Smells really bug me. I don't think I would have enjoyed sleeping in a bed with my husband who probably had to sweat all day for a living, and got the sheets all stinky. I don't think I could stand the smell of myself for that matter, or the sticky feeling and greasy hair look.

What is awesome about living in the 21st century is that I can put a bag of dried beans in the crock pot and go to bed and wallah! I have beans that are already cooked in the crock pot for the chili I am making that day. I don't even have to dirty another pot, it's cheaper than canned beans, and I didn't have to do a dang thing except think about it the night before and add water. Plus a double bonus-I got to do my favorite thing: multi task. Sleep and prep dinner for the next day--you see how I think? It's sick sometimes really.

You know what else is awesome, is loading the dishwasher, turning it on at night and when you wake, you have a dishwasher full of clean dishes. I've gone years without a dishwasher and they are worth every penny. I really want to get this thing my friend Nicole has. She was telling me about the iRobot Roomba. She goes to bed or work and comes home to a house that is all vacuumed. This would be so great except I would have to have the family room clear of toys and clutter that just may not happen every night.

The one thing you cannot enjoy getting done in your sleep is laundry which is a shame. I hate that you can't throw in a load in the washer right before bed because it doesn't put itself in the dryer and we all know what happens to clothes left in the washer overnight. They come out smelling like mildew and if you dry them on top of that, you smell mildew all day long because the mildew smell was baked into those fibers, and you can't mask or hide the smell until you wash it again. Or is that my weird sense of smell thing again? Oh well, at least I don't have to wash clothes down by the river.

Me-"That's what happens when you get bigger. Mommy and Daddy's hair turned brown when we got bigger. Don't you want to have brown hair like mommy and daddy?"

Lily-"Yeah, but I am going to miss my blonde."

(5) Wed Nov 05 2008 13:33Time Out For Women:
Per Betina's request I am writing a review of Time Out For Women that I attended about 2 weeks ago. With Halloween and stuff I am just now getting around to this. Verdict- If there is one in your area, you should go. You will especially have a good time if you spend the night in a hotel with 3 other girlfriends staying up late eating junk food and talking.

I really loved TOFW. I was a little skeptical of it, so that is why I passed when it came to SA 2 years ago. I thought it was commercialized religion, and I didn't want to have to pay money to see Sheri Dew speak when I can watch her for free in General Conf. Well, not anymore, but I used to. My heart was softened when all I heard was positive things about it from my friends that attended. So I decided that if it were coming to town again, I would go.

Even though this month was such a busy month I am glad I went. They had a Friday night program, so we thought it would be easier for us to get a hotel room and stay downtown so we could make it to the 8:30am part on time without too much hassle.

So Nancy, Cari, Ashley, and I stayed at a La Quinta and had some fun girl time. We also got to go to Chili's for lunch during the break. I just love my friends here. I am very afraid of moving and not having the support system that I am so spoiled with here. Did I mention I have the best friends ever? Because I do.

I would have to say that I loved Micheal McLean's portion on Friday night. I've heard his songs a million times, but I still loved it. Hilary Weeks was not really my style of music, but her personality was great. I liked a few of her more candid songs. All the talks were exquisite, and I even ached to hold my kids and give them 'tight hugs'. I know, me miss my kids on my day off? Crazy, but not as crazy as the feeling of wanting more, which I haven't felt since Gunnar was born. I mean I know I want more children, but I just haven't felt the desire to start thinking about it anytime soon. But the seed was planted and it's nice to know those feelings exist, they are just buried beneath loads of laundry, sinks full of dishes, soap scum on showers to scrub, and a daddy that would love more than anything to not have to take one more school credit the rest of his life. I married a freshman and we are so ready for school to be over.

It really was a great spiritual recharge, which being in nursery (physical and mental depletion--I've decided our ward has too many 2 yr old boys) and having Gunnar in sacrament meeting, who likes to wander around playing with other people's stuff and protests very loud if you have a problem with that, I'd say I haven't really gotten much "church" in a few months. I loved feeling the spirit so strong and I loved prioritizing my life again.

It must sound like I am always ragging on my kids, though they never know because I say it all behind their backs. Someone once told me as I was admitting that I probably write too many negative things about motherhood/my kids in my blog- "that's ok, there are other motherhood blogs I can go to for the positive stuff." Uh, er, ouch...or thanks, hmm, I don't know how to take that. I think she was trying to say, there is a place for both, I guess, it just came out bad. I love my kids to death, and have a great time with them and basically my life is centered on clothing, feeding, bathing, loving, and spending time with them. I wouldn't want to do anything else, but there is a daily grind and I am not the best at putting a smile on when everything I do gets undone and I have to complete a task over and over and over again. "Brush Lily's teeth? It doesn't have to be done everyday. Plus between Aaron and my dental genetics, she will never have a cavity in her life."

I like to be a homebody with them and hang out, and I enjoy life based on the fact that they accompany me through it. (Aaron too of course.) But Disney World would not have been fun for me alone. The fun was watching them enjoy themselves. That gave me immense pleasure and joy. I don't plan, pack, and prepare a camping trip just for myself. It's a lot of work, but I do it because I love giving my children opportunities to explore and discover. Sure I like a sunset, or a nice walk, but I love it when I experience it with my family. It's like watching a comedy by yourself. It's funny, you grin, but you don't laugh out loud unless you are with someone. There is a connection that takes your life to a higher level.

My point is, I love my babies, I wouldn't want to be married to anyone else but Aaron, and still life can be hard. But there is a way to find lasting joy amongst frustrations and pain, and The Way is the Savior Jesus Christ.

Thu Nov 06 2008 22:51Squeezing the ju-uice:
I am pretty tired. Aaron has a hospital rotation this week and has not been getting done until 6ish, so he doesn't really get home until just before the kids go to bed. I can't complain really since a lot of dental school wives deal with this on a daily basis but I really like having Aaron home for the dinner and bed time routine.

So tonight was Enrichment and I wasn't surprised at all to get a call from him that he just left, and I needed to be leaving the house myself to get there on time. So I had to take them with me. I went into my room to get my shoes on and put my earrings in when I heard a thud. To my horror Lily had opened the fridge and Gunnar had climbed into it and got out a full pitcher of orange juice and spilled it all over the floor I had just mopped hours before, and inside the fridge.

Needless to say, I didn't laugh or have a sense of humor about it like Alyson. I spent almost an hour cleaning it up and moving the fridge out so I could get the mess behind there too. At least cleaning inside the fridge was easier.

I remember reading that entry by Aly when I was pregnant with Lily and thinking that would suck to clean. I don't remember thinking that it would probably happen to me someday. Hmmm, and it probably won't be the last.

(1) Wed Nov 12 2008 22:19Good Place:
My sister in law, Jenni just left this morning. She came to visit us for about 5 days, and I have to say she has a heart of gold. Jenni is wonder woman inc. She is the reason why lds mom's go on prozac. She does it ALL and makes it look easy. She's so darn gorgeous and you can't hate her for it because she is so nice too.

Lily was thrilled to share her room with Jenni. We put her in a sleeping bag on our floor at night but to fall asleep she insisted on going to sleep in the other bed next to Jenni's for a "sleepover". Then we would transfer her to our room. And when she woke up, she was obsessed with seeing what pj's Jenni had on in the morning. But next time Jenni comes, she has to bring Caden, so says Lily.

We got to have loads of fun while Jenni was here. Friday we picked her up at the airport and got cheesecake factory cheesecake and then went to Jake and Erin to catch up. Sat we got to go to La Cantera and Pei Wei, then girls night with some of our friends here. Monday we went to Pappasitos for half price fajitas for two-it was their 25th anniversary in case you were wondering. On Tues since it was Veteran's Day and the boys had school off, we let them watch the chillens while we got massages, lunch, and shopping at The Rim.

I had such a good time, I hope Jenni did too. I am so glad she was able to come out and visit us. It is great to have visitors, and she is the best guest. I hope lots of people come to see us while we are in DC next year because we have an open door policy for our family and friends.

This afternoon I took the kids over to my mom's house to pick up my southern living order. It was such a beautiful afternoon and we just sat on her deck while the kids played. We started cleaning the pool and the kids wanted to get in, so I let them. Of course they just meandered around the yard mostly, but Gunnar did get all the way in for 2 seconds. I was amazed that he got in the pool without any coaxing whatsoever. He stepped down the two steps and the third was too deep and his head bobbed up and down. I "saved" him of course, but he was in no danger, since I was watching him the whole time to see what he would do. He wouldn't go near the hot tub a couple weeks ago when we joined Ashley and David at the Hyatt Resort for hot tubing. Strange kid. Lily wanted to put on her suit on and put her feet in.

All in all, I am going to miss this place. It's Nov and I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It is sunny outside but not hot, and my kids can dip their feet in their grandma's pool a short drive away. What's not to love here for 8 months out of the year? Life is good.

(3) Sun Nov 16 2008 12:40Disaster Strikes:
Note to self: Don't go camping when a cold front blows in. We've done it in the cold before, and that we can handle, but WIND...that is a different story. Our tent almost blew away more times that we can count and it really did blow away once. A tent pole broke because the wind was so bad, and a camping chair blew in the fire, subsequently catching on FIRE, and then while trying to put out that fire, the grass caught on fire. Just a little. Louise's jacket was briefly on fire after Aaron did a Dennis the Menace on his marshmallow and tried to put them out by flinging them back and forth and one flew off and landed on Louise's fleece while on fire. It was hilarious, only because no one was hurt, except Aaron's finger because he grabbed the flaming marshmallow off her jacket.

The worst collateral damage was Gunnar's blanky blew in the fire. Argh! Which is part of the reason why he slept so horribly, causing me to sleep even worse. When he has his blanky in hand, in goes the thumb and he knows it is time to sleep. Without the blanket he wanted to play or cry at his discretion. "Wah! The tent in blowing in on us. Hehehe! I am going to smack mommy's face with a flip flop." Plus our air mattress deflated after about an hour of laying on it. Come to find out the valve wasn't closed. I was sleeping between a rock and a heavy boy. Gunnar woke up a couple hours later, mad at the world, so instead of making everyone hear his crying I took him to the car and he slept in my arms. I couldn't recline the chair because the backseat was folded down, so I sat there trying to sleep, but mainly watching the sun rise biding my time. I think I got maybe 2 hours of sleep-not consecutive, or deep. At least in the car it wasn't windy and we didn't have to listen to the tent flapping back and forth. That is what freaked Gunnar out the most was the noise. He kept saying "Gooooo. Uh Go Back. Back. Uh Home. Back Home." Sorry bud.

It's funny because right when we arrived it was warm and I had shorts on and it was nice. Then when the sun set, the north wind came in and the cold front moved in. The campfire was fun though, and I invented a new version of smores that are so good. You do the normal thing except instead of a Hersery's bar, you put a Dove caramel filled square on. They were very tasty.

Everyone got up pretty early, a little after the sun rose, and the guys hurried and made breakfast and we cleaned up after eating. It's sad the party ended early, but it was just too dang windy-cold wind. I think everyone was about gone by 10:00ish. The best thing about camping is the clean-up. Not. Between the mother daughter where Lily threw up in her sleeping bag and I had to sleep with a beach towel the rest of the night hearing people talking and babies crying and this trip where in the total amount of sleep was about 5 hours, I think we are done camping until next spring. I love being out in nature, but it is a lot of work.

It was funny, when we put the fire out Friday night, Lily was like "Ohhh, now we aren't camping anymore." Too funny. Lily LOVES camping, and this is why I go through all the trouble of it. It's nice family time to be outdoors and make good memories. Or sometimes bad ones. It's like pregnancy. You always forget how bad it is and so you do it again. But we have had some pretty successful trips too so we can't write it off. It will get easier the older the kids get.

(1) Wed Nov 19 2008 13:14No Comment:
Since John's comments are acting up on me now and won't let me comment, I went investigating the problem on my own blog trying to figure out what all the sudden made that happen. You wouldn't believe how many I found tucked away in the Utilities of my blog. I guess on some comments I have to approve them so now that I know where to look I can get those ones that fall through the cracks.

I still don't know what to do when it says that it won't accept it at all. Who knows. What to do, what to do.

But what I was going to say John is that I am sorry to hear about your surgery and hopefully you will be back at 100% in no time.

Wed Nov 26 2008 13:05Bleeding heart:
I had Lily watch the Living Scriptures-King Noah video the other day and then when I asked if she wanted to watch it again she said, "yes, but I don't want them to kill King Noah". I don't think she was paying attention to the first part, and Gideon did seem pretty mean and scary in the video.

Fri Nov 28 2008 15:10Tis the season:
Yesterday, we celebrated Thanksgiving at Mo Ranch again. A Taylor tradition. It was pretty fun this time, not having to worry too much about the kids. They are getting to a good age. Gunnar actually turns 2 on Sunday, and he is a pretty busy little boy who loves to make me laugh, even though I am not really laughing when he runs away from me, he just thinks I am laughing because he finds it so funny. I am seriously so glad for him being in our family. He is the little goof ball. I can't stay mad at him long because he is so snuggly and squishy.

So we got there by 11 and had "Thanksgiving dinner". It was so nice not having to cook anything or clean it up. So much easier. And my kids were such great eaters and tried everything on their plate. Tonight my mom is making the traditional Thanksgiving meal for the family so we don't miss out on her amazing cooking. I really am in awe of how my mom can whip up a dinner, anytime, for large crowds and not even look like she is trying. I mean, she does it all and makes it look easy. Maybe because she has done it so much and is used to feeding swarms of people.

After the meal we took a walk along the grounds. Mo Ranch is in the hill country and it is beautiful up there. We took the kids in a canoe ride and Gunnar loved being in the "boat" and "wah-wee". After some chillin with the fam we headed home for naps. I went out with my mom and sisters/inlaw/step and we watched a chick flick that turned out to be more like a comedy. Can you guess which one? Twilight. I had low expectations for the flim so I wasn't disappointed. It got great belly laughs from it, especially from the part where Edward throws himself off of Bella and said "I don't know if I can have any self control around you." Lame-o, but it was fine. I wanted to see it and I did.

We went to IHOP for dinner because that was the only thing open. Love, love, love girl time. Thanks to Aaron for watching the kids and Joe for supplying video game entertainment until the wee hours of the morning because I left the house in the wee hours of the morning to go shopping at the outlet mall. We got there right before they opened at midnight. I got some Christmas shopping done, and let's face it, my own shopping done as well. Don't get me anything Aaron! I am a huge grouch when I am tired, but I was able to snuff it out for the most part when the crowds were awful. Gap's line was wrapped around the whole store, and I didn't get it because they didn't even have that much cute stuff in there. Whatever. The biggest line I waited in was A'Gaci, but it was worth it because I love that store, and I got a pea coat for $18 and peep toe heels for $3.00. That is nothing compared to the madness at Children's Place. They had nothing for Lily but all the shorts for Gunnar were $1.60. And they are sturdy cargo shorts with pockets in the butt, not like the ones that have no pockets anywhere. Hello? I'll take one in every color please. I don't know how they make money off that. (Sorry Jenni, the sweaters you bought for your boys when you were here were only $8, and I got the red argyle one for Gunnar. Don't you hate when things go on sale right after you buy them?!)

So I rolled into bed at 6AM, and got woken up at 8:30. Gotta love my kids. I am trying to get the house picked up before dinner tonight. Aaron is paint balling with the guys. I think I will go to bed early tonight and put off putting up the Christmas decorations till tomorrow.

Sat Nov 29 2008 19:42Shave and a haircut...two bits!:
We are almost done putting up Christmas decorations. Then maybe my house will look presentable for Gunnar's birthday party!

Sun Nov 30 2008 20:13Today:
Is my baby's birthday. I have a two year old, ahhh. And to put an exclamation point on his exodus of the one's, he was taken home early from church for unsatisfactory behavior. That boy is getting naughty and his only redeeming quality is his sly smile. He knows he is naughty but he also knows he is adorable and melts my heart, and seriously has the best laugh ever. Seriously. The. Best. I love you Gunnar bun. You are my sunshine.